My Mother's Story
by Cafire
Summary: This is the story of my parents and how I came to be. Or rather, this is the story of my mother who became pregnant and came face to face with the reality of being a single mom. Was Loe, but now reposted and better as Lilly/Matt, or is it?...
1. The Birthday Party

**A/N: **OK I feel like a nerd all over again but there you go. "My Mother's Story" has been reuploaded with changes. The core of the story is still there, but it has been tweaked slightly. I think I perfer it this way anyway, it gives me more freedom with the characters. So it's now a Matt/Lilly story. I thought they were uber cute together anyway in that one episode, so I thought why not, because I was not putting Lilly with Lucas, and I decided I wanted to stay as much in the fandom as possible.

So I started writing this after The Virgin Suicides, that's influenced the style here a lot

Also I'm Irish, but to keep with the style I've tried to keep it as American as I can, but sorry if some phrases or spellings slip through the net.

* * *

**The Birthday Party**

This is the story of my parents and how I came to be. Or rather, this is the story of my mother who became pregnant and came face to face with the reality of being a single mom.

Their story has been told many times, in many different ways. Some have said it was my Dad's fault, others say it was my Mom's. Some even say it was all just a publicity stunt to get child benefit and to sell some magazines. Recent events have prompted me to sit down and write their story. I am here to set the record straight, to tell the real story. I've put their story together through photos, interviews, and my own memories and it is a testament to what both my parents went through.

But I'm getting ahead of myself; I should really start from the start. But how do you pinpoint the beginning? Is it when my Mom accepted the invitation to that ill-fated dance? Or when my Dad first kissed her? I guess in my mind it all really started on the day of my Mom's 21st birthday.

Except she wasn't my Mom back then, she was just Lilly Truscott. And my Dad wasn't my Dad, he was just Matt Marshall.

Often when remembering her 21st birthday party Lilly would say it was one of the most perfect moments of her life so far, and looking at pictures from the time one can tell how happy she is. There is one picture in particular where she has just blown out the candles on her cake and looking around her with a big goofy grin all over face.

At that moment her life did feel perfect. She had just turned 21 and surrounding her were all the people she loved most in the world. Her Mom, her best friends, Miley and Oliver, and her boyfriend, Matt.

Lilly still couldn't believe she was going out with Matt, the most perfect guy she could have ever dreamed of. Mom had gone out with Matt briefly during their freshman year in high school, but it was just a short lived thing. In Matt's' sophomore year, he and his brothers took their band, Lost Republic, out of the garage and into the wider world. In no time at all they were picked up by Hollywood Records, and within a year they had released their first studio album. The world went nuts for them.

A few months later both Hannah and Lost Republic were both performing at a charity event. Lola and Hannah tried to avoid them, but it wasn't helped by the fact that Hannah found Matt's older brother, Josh, extremely cute. In reflection Lilly always said it was a doomed mission trying to avoid them all night. Especially since both Matt and Josh seemed to have been captivated by Lola and Hannah, and were pretty much stalking them. It really was a lost cause.

While the world had obsessed over Hannah and Josh, Lilly and Matt had quietly got back together. Sure, little girls everywhere hated her now, but the paparazzi couldn't care less about some little nobody Matt Marshall had picked up. It only really got hectic when they went to press events, but Lilly wouldn't trade the last four years for the world.

Lilly got up and the cake was taken away to be cut. She went over to Oliver and Miley, who she hugged and thanked them for everything they had done. She made her way through the crowd of people wishing her a happy birthday to where Matt stood with a cocktail glass in his hand.

"OK, so ready for your first legal drink?" he asked, offering her the glass.

Lilly grinned, "Bring it on! What is it?"

"Oh, just a little something I asked the barman to whip up. I call it a Lilly," he said holding the glass up, as if it was scientific miracle.

"It's pink," Lilly pointed out.

"Yeah."

"I don't do pink," she said crossing her arms and refusing to take the glass.

"Go on just try it," Matt begged, giving her puppy dog eyes, "for me?"

Sighing Lilly took the glass from Matt's hand and took a sip.

"Ugh! It even tastes pink," her face twisted in disgust, "It's like someone blended a unicorn, added a dash of pixie dust and then poured a liter of pink paint in for good measure!"

"So I take it the Lilly is a dud?"

"Ya think?"

"Well, I did get this other drink, I believe the barman called it a vodka and coke," said Matt, as he produced another glass from behind his back.

"Mmm, gimme!" Lilly reached up to take the drink.

Laughing Matt handed over the glass. Lilly took a sip and looked up at Matt. Smiling she pulled him into a long, passionate kiss. Matt laughed as they broke apart.

"You know what? You even taste pink!"

"Yeah? And whose fault is that?" Lilly laughed, giving Matt a light shove.

The rest of the night passed in a haze of alcohol and dancing and ended with Matt and Lilly in the back of a limo frantically kissing.

Lilly did not object when Matt brought her up to his apartment.

Nor, did she worry when Matt picked her up and brought her into his bedroom.

It wasn't until she woke up the next morning and rolled over to find a naked Matt Marshall sleeping beside her did she begin to worry. It was only when she looked down and realized that she too was naked that the enormity of the situation hit her.

"Crap."


	2. The Morning After the Night Before

**The Morning After the Night Before**

Lilly quietly rolled to the edge of the bed and tried to sit up. Only when she tried it was like hitting her head off a brick wall. Lilly was never any good with hangovers, and she often remembered this one as one of the worse ones.

"Ugh, I hate hangovers", she groaned.

Luckily her underwear had not fallen far from the bed and after a while of fumbling with clasps, she managed to get her knickers and bra on.

Taking a few a minutes to recover from that effort, she stated to look around for her dress. It was tossed haphazardly across a chair in the corner of the room. Lilly stumbled across the room, ignoring the urge to throw up, and attempted to put it on. This transpired to be quite difficult in her current state. After a lot of cursing and falling over, Lilly finally got the dress on, relieved Matt was such a heavy sleeper.

She was nearly ready to go when her message alert went off. Cursing, she dived into her bag trying to silence the offending object, but it was too late. Matt was starting to stir.

He groaned and mumbled something along the lines of "I 'ate 'ango'ers" and rolled over to come face to face with Lilly.

"Lilly? What are you doing here?" he asked confusion written clearly all over his face. Lilly said nothing but just pointed at Matt's still naked body. Matt looked down and shock and realisation hit him all at once.

"We didn't, did we?" he asked in a quiet voice.

Lilly just nodded in confirmation.

"Crap."

Silence filled the room until Matt spoke.

"I'm sorry, I should have known better."

Lilly shrugged, "I guess it's both our faults, what with the amount of we were both drinking."

"Yeah, but I'm the one with the freakin' purity ring. Oh man, Josh and Mike are going to kill me", Matt said putting his face in his hands.

Lilly sighed, running a hand through her hair, "It's not as if the ring puts a barrier up," she suddenly stopped short, "Wait, you did use protection didn't you?"

Matt paled, "Well umm…"

"Great, after all those years of sex-ed classes, and he forgets to use a condom."

"Well, if I was drunk enough to actually do it, I was definitely too drunk to remember a condom," Matt said, slightly snappily.

Lilly sighed and stood up, "Look I have to go, Miley's probably wondering where I went last night."

"Hey, you don't think you could, you know not say anything about this? It's just…" Matt trailed off, starting to play nervously with his sheets.

"Yeah, I know, I understand."

That uncomfortable silence started to fill the room again.

Lilly started to move towards the door. She was about to leave when Matt spoke again.

"Hey Lils, we're still good right?"

Lilly smiled sadly, "Yeah Matt, we're still good. I'll see you later."

Lilly left the building and walked the few blocks to where her own flat was. She put on some coffee and toast and then took out her phone to see who the message had been from. As she had thought, it was Miley.

"Hey ave fun last nite? Didn't c u leave"

Lilly paused for a moment before sending her reply.

"Yea lots of fun Matt gave me a lift huge hangover "

Twisting the truth, but not too much. Her toast popped, and she spread peanut butter and jelly all over it. Grabbing her coffee she headed into her bedroom.

She had just got into her pajamas and was settled in bed when she got a reply from Miley.

"Coolies ill let u recover c u 2moro"

And thus Lilly was left with her own thoughts.

She had just lost her virginity to Matt Marshall.

In comparison to most girls of her generation she was relatively old. When everyone else started doing it she had been either single or dating Matt. But since Matt had the whole purity ring thing going on, she had thought it would never happen unless they were married. Had being the operative word.

She supposed she was glad it had been with Matt, someone who loved her and who she loved back. But did this mean he would want them to get married now? She had just turned 21, no way was she ready to marry yet.

And then there was the whole fact that they had had unprotected sex. Not that she was worried about STIs or anything, but what if she was…

Lilly couldn't even let the word formulate in her mind. There was always the morning after pill, but wasn't that kind of like an abortion? She has always been pro-choice, but would never be able to actually do it herself.

But then was it a living thing yet? When did life begin? Was it really an abortion if it was only a few cells?

Oh boys… Too much thinking for one hungover mind to take.

Lilly closed her eyes and in seconds she was asleep, the remains of her coffee and toast left forgotten on her bedside table.


	3. Awkwardness and Tests

**Awkwardness and Tests**

She often told me that the next few weeks were some of the worst of her life, they were just so awkward

Lilly and Matt tried to move on, although things were a little strained to say the least. It wasn't as if they were cold towards each other, but rather they were uncomfortable around each other. Neither knew where to go from here, what the next step was, and both found that when the topic was about to come up the conversation would suddenly veer the other way.

Miley and Oliver noticed the change in Lilly and Matt but when they questioned Lilly about it, she claimed they were both under stress from finals (Lilly was studying education to become a middle school teacher) and a new album coming out.

Lilly also used the logic of stress when her period didn't come two weeks later. What with everything going on around her, she guessed her body was just overcompensating. There was a nagging doubt at the back of her mind, but she pushed it aside, refusing to even contemplate the idea that maybe…

Then a month later when once again her period didn't come, she realised that she might have to contemplate that idea. So she drove for half an hour to a pharmacy where she knew that nobody would know her and she bought a pregnancy test.

It was on her bathroom floor with a little plus sign staring back at her when Lilly first truly acknowledged my existence.

And it was there she sat for a full hour, not able to move or think. Not able to fully comprehend the fact that in eight months time she would be bringing another life into the world.

Later on she told me that she had debated with herself for ages who she would tell first, but in the end she decided it was only fair that she told Matt.

And so for the first time in nearly a month and a half Lilly made her way over to Matt's apartment. The initial look of shock on Matt's face when he opened the door was quickly replaced with a smile as Lilly entered.

They sat on the sofa for a while making idle small talk, and then there was silence.

Then suddenly out of nowhere, "I'm pregnant."

Matt did a double take, "What? How? When?"

"Umm, about a month and a half ago. I believe you were there."

"Oh yeah, right."

They relapsed back into silence.

"So what now?" Matt asked awkwardly.

"Well in about 8 months I'm going to give birth, and then… I don't know what then," Lilly trailed off.

"No, I mean, now. Right now. Are we going to get married?" Matt asked.

Lilly gave a nervous little laugh but stopped when she saw how serious Matt was.

"What? No way!" Lilly exclaimed starting to feel a little panicky, "I'm way too young. We're way too young. I only just turned 21!"

"But what better timing? I love you. You love me and we are about to bring a child into the world. Don't say you've never thought about it", Matt said, taking Lilly's hands.

"Sure I've thought about it, but what girl dreams of being married and with a kid by the time they're 22?" Lilly said, shaking her head.

"But how is this going to work out any other way?"

"What do you mean?" confusion was all over Lilly's face.

" I don't think that I'm ready to be a father but not a husband," Matt tried to explain," Also how is the press going to react?"

"I'm sorry what?"

"This could destroy the image me and the band have built up over the years."

"Oh, you did not just say that!" Lilly's voice was full of disbelief.

"Say what?"

"You did not just say that you are more concerned about your public image than my and your child's happiness", Lilly was furious at this stage.

"No wait Lilly, that's not what I meant", Matt said, trying to reason with her.

"Ok, so what did you mean?" Lilly asked, waiting for a _really_ good answer.

"I…" Matt faltered.

"No, that's fine Matt, I understand. If this is all too much for you and your image, then I'll leave", Lilly said getting up.

"Lilly …", Matt pleaded.

"I understand if you don't feel ready, but we have eight months to prepare. _Eight months_ Matt. But then all this crap about your image? I thought I meant more to you than that. If you change your mind, or you decide to grow up, you know where to find me. Until then Matt, goodbye."

And it was with that Lilly stepped out of Matt's life. He told me later that he was unsure of what to do next, and so he didn't follow.

Fifteen minutes later Miley opened the door to Lilly who had tears streaming down her face.

"Lilly, what's wrong?" Miley asked, full of concern for her best friend.

Not knowing where to even start Lilly just silently stepped into the apartment. Miley put the kettle on and made some tea, bringing it over to Lilly, who was now sitting on the couch.

It was over that cup of tea that Lilly told Miley everything. From her birthday party, to sleeping with Matt, to the pregnancy test, to "so I left. You should have heard him Miles. It was scary to think that he just wanted to marry, just because of his public image, I really thought he loved me. But now I don't know what to do. I just feel so lost."

Taking her friend's hands Miley looked at Lilly straight in the eye, "I know what Matt said and did was terrible, but you are one of the strongest people I know and you can get through this. The first thing we are going to do is tell your Mom and then we are going to enrol you in a pregnancy class, where you will learn to be the most fabulous Mom ever. Then in eight months time you are going to give birth to a beautiful baby it."

Lilly hiccupped and smiled slightly at the thought of a beautiful baby it.

"And no matter what you are not going to do this alone; me, Oliver and your Mom are going to be with you every step of the way."

Lilly smiled at her friend, " Thanks Miley."

Lilly always put it down to this support that she was able move onwards and upwards. She attended the pregnancy classes and with some help she redecorated her spare room into a nursery. She finished her course with two months to go, allowing her time off to prepare even more.

She didn't hear from Matt at all, but whenever she came across an interview she noticed that when asked about his girlfriend, he would say they were on a break.

At this stage Lilly didn't care. It hurt a bit that he hadn't come after her. And it was a little scary, the prospect of being a single Mom, but she knew Miley was right. She _was_ strong enough to get through this, and she would get through this.

And so nine months after her 21st birthday Lilly gave birth to Jemma Heather Truscott. I weighed exactly seven and a half pounds and already had masses of dark, curly hair and big blue eyes. Mom always said I was perfect and looking at photos from the time, I'd have to say I was pretty damn cute.


	4. Growing Up

**Growing Up**

I had a normal, happy childhood, well as normal as you can get when your aunt is Hannah Montana. I was walking by the time I was one and my first word was "cookie", I had my priorities in order even back then.

When I was three I was the flower girl when Aunt Miley married Trey, adding further to my large family of aunts and uncles. I gained my first sibling when I was five with the birth of Aunt Miley and Uncle Trey's son Aaron. Mom and Aunt Miley often dreamed that maybe one day Aaron and I would fall in love and get married, meaning they would be like sisters. To me, this was like marrying my brother, a thought that grossed me out.

I never really missed having a dad. I'm sure I acknowledged the fact that there wasn't one around, but it never occurred to me that this was not the norm. Anyway Mom provided me with everything I ever needed, so I was happy. It wasn't until I was in kindergarten that I realised there was something missing, thanks to Billy Carter.

We were drawing our families when Billy said my picture was wrong. I asked him why and he said it was because I was missing my Dad.

"You can't just have a mom, because they can't do it on their own." So I hit him. Not because he said my picture was wrong but because he had insinuated that my Mom wasn't perfect.

But that thought that I should have a dad stayed with me, and later that night I asked my Mom about it.

"Mom, why don't we have a dad?"

Mom froze, her fork left hanging in mid-air. She slowly put down her fork, trying to find the right words to say.

"Well you see Jem, to start with everyone has a mom and dad…" she started.

"So where's mine?" I jumped in.

"Well you see…" Mom began to falter. How do you explain to five year old why her father isn't around? "Well you see, your Dad wasn't ready to be a dad yet. It's like, you know when you're playing softball with your friends?" I nodded. "Well you know when the pitcher throws you a ball, but it's too fast and you aren't ready, so you don't swing. Your Dad wasn't ready to be a dad yet, he wasn't ready to swing. So he had to leave."

"But didn't he love me?" I was confused; I thought all parents loved their children. If he loved me why would he leave?

"Oh honey, he didn't get a chance to know you, but if he did I'm sure he would have loved you more than all your uncles put together."

"Even more than Uncle Oliver and Uncle Robby?" I asked my eyes wide.

Mom smiled, "Even more than Uncle Oliver and Uncle Robby _plus_ Uncle Jackson and Uncle Trey."

I couldn't think of someone who would able to hold that much love, "Whoa."

As I got older Mom told me more about how she was only 21 and tried to explain better why my Dad left, but she never gave me the full story, and I didn't push it. I knew that one day she would tell me.

Some aspects of my childhood were more exciting than others. Having an aunt, who was secretly a pop star, was pretty cool. From day one Aunt Miley would insist that Mom brought me along to concerts. So little Jemima joined the Hannah crew. Luckily I was a good, heavy sleeper, so the screaming fans didn't disrupt me too often. I don't remember being told that the whole Aunt Miley/Hannah thing was a secret, it was just implied. A lot of the time when I was younger I saw it as a game, dressing up, pretending to be someone else.

So during the day I was just another kid who went to school, played with her friends and did her homework. At night I was the luckiest kid in the world, meeting celebrities left right and centre. Yet, in all this time of meeting celebrities I never met Lost Republic. Whenever Aunt Miley would mention that the band would be at an event, Mom would suddenly be busy that night.

I myself discovered Lost Republic when I was 7. No one in my large, extended family listened to them, so it wasn't until I was invited to a sleepover at Becky Tyler's house, did I hear them for the first time.

I walked into Becky's room to discover it was covered wall to wall with three guys I had never seen before in my life. I asked Becky who they were and she gave me a look of shock.

"Only the cutest band ever!" Seeing that I obviously wasn't getting it, "Lost Republic, duh!"

Becky played me a couple of their songs and I fell in love with them. Well their music anyway. I didn't understand it at the time, but I never found that I was obsessed over them in the same way as Becky or some of my other friends. I said my favourite was Josh, but I didn't lie awake at night wishing I was Mrs. Josh Marshall. However, their music became a permanent fixture in my life and my Mom, although cautious, tolerated this. I sometimes saw her flinch or tense up when a particular song came on, but I put it down to her not liking the song.

After I was born Mom got a job as the seventh grade teacher's assistant at Seaview Middle School. Over time as people retired or left Mom moved up the ladder and became the eighth grade teacher. This resulted in a better cash flow, allowing us to move into a new house when I was nine. This was a relief for all involved, as the apartment was getting decidedly cramped.

And so my life continued at it's happy, if eclectic pace. I attended Seaview, like my Mom and various aunts and uncles before me, and so encountered all the problems any student would face, nothing dramatic or life changing.

I was 15 when things started to get dramatic and life changing.


	5. Backstage

**Backstage**

I was two months shy of my 16th birthday when Hannah was asked to present an award at some show. At this stage the excitement of meeting celebrities had pretty much worn off for Mom and me, but we went along anyway to support Aunt Miley. Also Mikayla was going to be there, so Lola had to be ready to stop Hannah from doing anything she would regret.

Uncle Trey must have been out of town that week, because Aaron came along as well, as my cousin. When he was born Aunt Miley and Uncle Trey had decided to keep Aaron away from the public. So as far as the public was concerned Hannah Montana was single, with an on again off again boyfriend, Taylor, aka Trey. Aaron really didn't mind staying at home, especially when Uncle Oliver or Uncle Jackson was babysitting, but sometimes he got to tag along as my cousin Alex.

The evening started out smoothly enough. Hannah presented her award, Lola stood between Hannah and Mikayla and in my role of babysitter, I hadn't managed to lose Aaron, yet.

We were all in the green room backstage, Aaron and I a little bit apart from our moms. I was temporarily distracted by saying hi to Cameron Diaz, and when I looked around Aaron was gone.

He has always sworn that he told me he was going to the bathroom, but whether he did or not, I started to panic. Mom noticed I looked a little flustered, so she came over.

"Hey hun, what's up?"

"Huh? Oh, um, nothing… you know I think I saw some salmon puffs over there, I'll go check it out", I babbled, trying to escape to find Aaron.

"But you hate salmon", pointed out my confused Mom.

"What are you talking about Mom? Umm, gotta go!" I scurried away leaving Mom feeling very confused.

I made my way through the crowd, desperately searching for the red wig that resembled mine. I found myself on the other side of the room, facing a corridor. Deciding that Aaron must have gone down this way I followed the hall round and found Aaron talking to three men.

"Alex, where have you been?" I turned to the men, "I'm sorry if he's been any troub…" My jaw dropped, "eeeps" I whispered.

"Jemima, it's Lost Republic!" Aaron said, pointing out the obvious.

"Ya think?" I muttered, and then louder, extending my hand, "Hi, I'm Jemima Luftnagle"

A strange look came over Matt's face as I said it, but I was distracted as Josh introduced himself.

"Hey, I'm Josh."

"I'm Mike."

Matt managed to snap himself out of it in time to say "Matt"

"Yeah I know, I love you guys! Your music is awesome," I gushed.

Josh smiled, "Thanks"

Matt joined the conversation in a spaced out voice, "Luftnagle, that's an unusual name."

I laughed, "Yeah, I guess you could say it's an original."

"I used to know a Luftnagle once…" Matt said in quiet, in a past coming back to haunt you kind of way.

I was beginning to think Matt was the weird one.

"Ok… Look we kind of need to get back to the green room, my Mom's probably wondering where we got to," I said, taking Aaron's arm.

"We're going that way too, we'll go with you", Mike offered.

We made our way back to the green room and over to where Hannah and Lola stood. Mom nearly went white with shock.

"Hannah, look it's Lost Reublic. What a surprise!" she said, through gritted teeth, "I didn't know they were going to be here."

Hannah smiled weakly, "Neither did I. Hey guys, how's it going?"

"We're good", said Josh, "Hey Lola, long time, no see."

Mom grimaced, "Yeah, how about that?"

Mom and Matt desperately avoided looking at each other.

Feeling the tension Mike jumped in, "So, um, I guess Jemima is your daughter then?"

"Yeah", said Mom, looking hard at Matt.

Mom would laugh later, remembering that she had sincerely hoped that somehow, some sort of psychic ability would develop, allowing her to tell Matt not to say a word.

Somehow it must have worked, because Matt just nodded and said, "Right."

Seeing my Mom was feeling uncomfortable Hannah jumped in "Hey Lola, it must be past Alex's bedtime, we should be going."

Relieved, Mom took the suggestion, "Yeah, you're right. Guys gather up your stuff."

Despite our protests, we were soon leaving. I didn't se it, but Matt pulled Mom back and gave her a card with his number and whispered, "Please call me Lilly, she's beautiful."

Mom didn't say anything, but took the card and followed the rest of us out.

Aaron fell asleep in the limo on the way home and I talked non-stop about how awesome I thought Lost Republic were, if slightly concerned about Matt.

Aunt Miley came with us up to the house. I went straight upstairs to get changed, while Mom and Aunt Miley stayed downstairs, I thought, to say goodnight.

As soon as she was sure I was out of earshot Mom turned to Aunt Miley, "What do I do Miley? I think he wants to meet Jemma, well properly. He gave me his card for frick sake!"

"Well maybe it's time," Miley said slowly, "Maybe he's grown up in the last 16 years."

Mom sighed, "Yeah maybe… but who do I talk to first? I don't want to ambush Jem, but then what if he hasn't grown up, and still isn't ready? What if he leaves again? I don't want Jemma crushed like that!"

"Ok Lilly, you need to calm down. I think talk to Matt first, and then you can decide whether or not to tell Jemma. She deserves to know the truth and to have a father. An uncle is alright, but every girl needs her daddy," said Miley in a calming tone.

Mom ran her hand through her hair, "Yeah, you're right. It has been 16 years, he has to have matured a little bit, right?"


	6. A Phonecall and A Choice

**A Phonecall and A Choice**

It was the Monday after the awards show, and on Mondays Mom's class had a morning of drama, giving her the morning off. After she had waved me off Mom went back into the kitchen and started to clear away our breakfast things. She then picked up the phone and went and sat on the couch. She sat just looking at that phone for the best part of twenty minutes, before digging Matt's number out of her pocket.

"Like ripping of a band aid", she muttered, as she punched in the numbers quickly and put the phone to her ear, before she changed her mind.

The phone rang four times, and Mom was about to lose courage, when Matt picked up.

"Yeah, what?"

Mom was slightly taken aback by this abrupt greeting and hesitated slightly before saying, "Um, hi Matt, it's Lilly… Lilly Truscott?" adding the last bit just in case.

"Oh hi Lilly. I thought you were my publicist." Mom decided it wasn't the moment to make a comment about image.

"Christie right?" said Mom, trying to break the ice.

"Oh no, it's Julia now", Matt said.

"Oh right."

There was a silence for a few seconds.

"It was really good to see you the other night," said Matt, filling the silence, "You looked really good after all these years. And Jemima?"

"Jemma. It's a family name," Mom provided.

"Yeah, I guessed it wasn't her real name. She's beautiful Lilly. You did a really good job," said Matt, in what Mom mused, sounded like a genuine voice.

"Thanks, she's a good kid, she makes it easy", there was a note of pride in Mom's voice.

"So tell me about her."

"Like what Matt?" asked Mom, slightly confused.

"Anything! Her hobbies, her friends, her favourite subjects, I'm trying to catch up on nearly sixteen years here. What color hair does she have? I know she has her mother's eyes, but when I saw her she was wearing a wig."

"Well she inherited the Truscott eyes, but her hair is all Marshall, brown, thick and wavy. Although she straightens it as much as she can… just like you", both of the smiled at either end of the line. "Thankfully, she didn't inherit the Truscott musical ability. Miley and Robby taught her how to play the guitar and she has a lovely voice, though she doesn't believe it. I think she writes as well, but she won't let me listen."

Matt laughed slightly, "Sounds a bit like Josh when he started."

"Well she loves Lost Republic, has for years. Although I'm sorry to say you're not her favorite," said Mom with a laugh.

"I'm not?"

Mom continued laughing, "No, she likes Josh better."

"What? I burn! I bleed! How could she do this to me? Damn Josh, and his youthful good looks. Ease the pain, tell me something different," Matt begged.

"She used to play softball, but she grew out of it. She's pretty into gymnastics, but I don't know how long that will last. Music really is her main thing", said Mom.

"She didn't follow in her mother's skater footsteps?"

"No, apparently it's not cool anymore," Mom sighed.

"How about school?" asked Matt, eager for more information.

"She's a good student, though she doesn't push herself enough. So it's mostly Bs, maybe an A- here and there."

"She sounds like a pretty amazing kid", said Matt.

"Yeah, she is", Mom said with definite pride.

"Lilly?" Matt said cautiously.

"Yeah?"

"I want to meet Jemma"

"Oh Matt, I don't know…" Mom sighed.

"I'm guessing she doesn't know who her father is"

"It was just easier, what with you being so much in the public eye", Mom explained.

"I understand, but maybe it's time she found out", Matt offered.

"It's just I don't want Jemma to get hurt. I don't want her to get attached and then for you to leave."

"I know I said I wasn't ready sixteen years ago, but that was sixteen years ago. I've grown up and now I want to get to know my daughter. I want to make up for lost time," Matt pleaded.

"But what about your image?" Mom decided it was time to acknowledge the giant pink elephant in the corner of the room, "An illegitimate daughter? Not the greatest publicity."

"Screw the image! This is my daughter," Matt exclaimed, "I panicked. I was in the middle of a situation I couldn't handle and it was the first thing I thought of. I know I shouldn't have said it, and I regret it so much now. Please Lilly; believe me when I say I want to move on. I want to leave the past in the past and just get to know my daughter."

Mom sighed, "Look I'm really not sure about this Matt but I'll talk to Jemma tonight. If anything she deserves to know who her father is. After that it's her choice."

"Thank you Lilly, thank you so much"

"Ok, but one false move Marshall and you don't go near her. Got it?" Mom threatened.

"Yes ma'am," Matt responded meekly.

"Right. Well I guess I might be seeing you around", Mom said and hung up.

Maybe he had matured after all these years. But the hardest part she knew was still to come. She still had to tell me.

I came home from school that day to find a weird smell in the house.

"Mom?" I called out, not sure if I would even be answered.

"In the kitchen!" came the reply.

I walked through to find a very strange sight before me.

"Mom what's going on?" I asked, slightly freaked out.

"What do you mean?" said Mom, "What does it look like I'm doing?"

"It looks like your baking," I answered, wondering who had replaced my mother with some clone.

"Then that's what I'm doing," she said proudly.

"Is that safe?" Mom doesn't bake, never has, never will.

Seeing my anxious expression Mom laughed, "Don't worry, I'm using one of those packet things, you just add water."

"So why does it smell like that?"

"Ah crap" Mom dived towards the oven and pulled it open, taking out a very burnt tray of cookies.

"Well I did buy brownies as well just in case," she said pointing towards the counter.

"Good plan" I smiled as I found the brownies and brought them and the fresh pot of coffee that had been brewing to the table where Mom was sitting.

"So what's with the sudden urge to be all domesticy?" I asked, taking a bite out of a brownie.

"Oh you know how much I love to have my daughter greeted by the smell of home baking after a hard day at school," she said, taking a sip of coffee.

"What's going on Mom?" I asked, knowing something was up.

Mom put down her coffee mug and looked at me.

"Jemma, I'm about to tell you something. And I want you to know whatever happens I love you. And whatever happened in the past, it doesn't change what's here and now. You are the best thing that ever happened to me, and I've tried to protect you as best I can, but your older now so it's time for you to make your own decisions."

I was getting a little weirded out at this stage, "Mom, seriously. What's going on?"

Mom took a deep breath, "Ok, you know what I've told you so far about your Dad?"

I nodded slowly, "Yeah, you were only 21 and Dad didn't feel ready, so you guys split up.

Mom felt that once again it wasn't time to bring up the image issue. "Yeah, that's pretty much it. Well I talked to him today."

"Who, Dad?"

Mom nodded, "Yeah, and I think he's finally grown up. I think he's ready to be a dad, and he wants to meet you."

"Wow."

"That's what I thought."

We both stared at our coffee for a few moments, each wrapped up in our own thoughts.

"So what's his name?" I asked.

"Huh?"

"My Dad, what's his name?" I repeated, "I'm assuming he has a name.

"Oh yeah, well you know that's kind of a funny story," Mom began awkwardly.

"It is?"

"You've kind of met him before, you see your dad is…" Mom paused, taking a breath, as if gathering courage, "your dad is Matt Marshall."

"What?" I wasn't sure if I had heard Mom right. Did she just say what I think she just said?

"He gave me his number as we were leaving the other night," Mom rambled, "And I wasn't sure if I was even going to call him, but then Miley said I should, so I did and then…"

"Are you telling me my dad is _the_ Matt Marshall?" I interrupted.

"Yes."

"And after all these years of listening to his music, you didn't say anything." My voice was steadily rising.

"Yes."

"And when you saw me with him the other night, you decided not to say any thing then either." I my voice was getting higher.

"Yes, but I didn't say anything because I didn't want you to get hurt," Mom tried to explain, " Matt hurt me all those years ago, I didn't want the same to happen to you. I wanted to make sure he had grown up."

I was silent as I tried to take in all that I had just been told; it was a lot to take in.

"No wonder I never wanted to be Mrs. Josh Marshall," I said quietly.

Mom smiled slightly, "Yeah, that would be kind of weird."

"So he wants to meet up?"

"It's your choice honey. I told him that if you didn't want to do it, then it was off. I mean it, you say the word and we never hear from him again," said Mom.

"I think I want to meet him," I said, almost not sure myself.

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah" I said with more confidence, "I think it would be cool to actually meet my Dad, well properly that is."

"Ok, but if he hurts you in any way, I'll beat him up so bad…"

I smiled, "Thanks Mom."

So it was arranged that Mom and I would meet Matt at seven that Saturday, at a restaurant along the beachfront. I was really nervous in the run up to the evening. For so long my Dad had been this almost mythical figure, like the tooth fairy. Now the tooth fairy was about to become a reality, and I was terrified I was only going to get a dime.

I nearly bolted when I walked into the restaurant; I was only stopped by the calming reassurance of Mom beside. As we followed the maitre 'd to where Matt was sitting a thought suddenly occurred to me.

"Mom?" I whispered.

"What?" she hissed.

"What do I call him?"

"What do you mean?" confusion was in her voice, but a smile was on her face. All those years of pretending to be nice to clients was paying off.

"I mean do I call him Matt? Or Dad? Or even Mr. Marshall?"

Mom snorted at the last one.

"Ssshhh! I'm serious, what do I call him?" On top of everything else, I was getting really worked up about this.

Mom put a hand on my shoulder and whispered calmly into my ear, "Leave it for a few minutes and see how you feel. Until then just follow my lead."

We reached the table and Joe stood up to greet us. "Lilly, it's great to see you again" he said as the tow of them hugged. "And you must be Jemma. Hi I'm Matt", he said as he offered his hand, "Uh, I'm your Dad, but I'm guessing your Mom already told you that."

I shook his hand awkwardly, "Uh, yup, that base has been covered."

Things were already starting to feel uncomfortable, not good I thought.

Trying to break the awkwardness, Matt invited us to sit and a waiter came by and took our drink orders. We sat in silence looking at our menus.

"So, um, I hear you play guitar," Matt said, offering a conversation starter.

"Yeah a little bit, I'm not really that good," I said modestly.

Matt shrugged, "Neither are Mike and Josh, but look where they are. Sometimes I wonder if it's all just one big fluke. But don't tell them I said that." I smiled slightly, which encouraged Matt to go on. "You go to Seaview right?" I nodded. "What kind of subjects do you like?" I had to give the guy some credit, he was trying.

"Oh you know, english lit, music, that kind of thing", I said.

A waiter arrived with our drinks and took our food orders.

Mom stood up, "I'm going to go wash my hands before we eat. I'll be back in a sec," she said, as she patted me on the shoulder, and despite my pleading looks, leaving me alone with Matt.

Once again there was silence.

I think we have our theme for the evening folks, I thought.

"This is kinda awkward for you isn't it," Matt said, looking at me.

"Just a bit," I replied honestly.

"Yeah me too," Matt said, running a hand through his hair.

"It's just for so long I haven't had a dad and now you're here, and I don't even know what to call you!" I was half laughing at the absurdity of it all.

Matt smiled, "How about Dad?"

I smiled back, "Dad sounds good." Things started to feel more comfortable. "So Lost Republic huh?"

"Yeah, it pays the bills. I hear you're a fan."

I shrugged, "Meh, you guys are ok."

Dad leaned forward, with a glint in his eye, "Oh yeah? I heard your favourite was Josh."

"I'm going to kill Mom," I groaned, putting my face in my hands.

"How could you do that to me? Your own father!" Dad cried, throwing his hands up in the air, attracting some strange looks from some of the other customers.

"Hey, I didn't know!" I hissed, trying to dispel the looks we were getting, "Anyway he's closer in age to me."

"By nine months!" Dad countered.

"Hey, I'm just glad I never wanted to be Mrs. Josh Marshall, never mind Mrs. Matt Marshall," I said, shuddering at the thought of how weird that would have been.

"Ah poor Mike, always getting left out."

"Being married does that to you," I pointed out, "So do they know? Your brothers, my uncles, do they know?"

"Yeah, well there was a bit of shock at first" Dad began.

"What with the whole, purity ring thing and all," I offered.

Dad nodded, "Exactly. But they were supportive, as usual, and they can't wait to meet you, properly."

Mom came back from the bathroom, "Hey guys, how are we doing?"

"We're doing good," I said with a smile.

The rest of the evening went really well and by the end of it I was proud to think of Matt Marshall as my Dad. Driving home Mom asked me what I thought.

"I thought it went really well. He seems like he's really making a genuine effort to get to know me, and be my Dad," I took a breath, "I think I want to see him again, I think I want to have Dad in my life."

"He does seem to have grown up, doesn't he? I'm really glad Jemma. I hope it all works out," Mom said, looking over at me.

"Me too."


	7. Getting to Know Him

**Getting To Know Him**

Over the next month or so I met up with Dad a lot, as we started to get to know each other better as father and daughter. The idea of a dad was still new to me, but I was getting used to it. Even saying the word 'dad' felt strange, but it felt right. Mom had been brilliant for all those years, but now it felt that a gap, that I hadn't realized was there, was now filled.

Dad and I got on really well, despite the fifteen years apart. We both liked the same kinds of food and music and had similar sense of humour. I was glad we didn't just share hair, but there was something deeper that connected me to him.

I never asked Dad for his version of what had happened sixteen years ago, taking for granted that Mom had told me everything at that stage, and so thought nothing of it when the press never got wind of me. I assumed it was anything for a quiet life, like why Aunt Miley performed as Hannah Montana. Living a life separate to the one splashed across the tabloids was nothing new to me, so I went with it.

As well as getting to know Dad, I also got to know the other side of my family. I met Uncle Mike and Uncle Josh, properly, and Uncle Luke, their youngest brother, and Aunt Louise, Uncle Mike's wife. It was strange being surrounded by my favourite band and calling them family, but they were so warm and welcoming the strangeness soon disappeared. Granny saw to that especially.

I was nervous meeting Dad's parents for the first time, because I was scared that they would reject me, especially if they disapproved of what Dad did all those years ago, and then passed that disapproval onto me. Mom's dad died before I was born, in a car accident, so this would be the first time having a grandfather. I needn't have worried though, because by the time I had left they were already Granny and Granddad.

Although I was kept under the radar from the press, I was able to tell my friends. And so when Becky asked me on Monday morning what I had done over the weekend, I took a deep breath and said, "I met my dad."

Becky stopped short, causing Ross to run into her. "Wow, was that weird?"

"Kind of," I admitted, "But look guys you can't tell anyone." Becky and Ross nodded solemnly. "My Dad is Matt Marshall."

Becky would have screamed if Ross and I had not immediately put our hands over her mouth. After Becky had calmed down I explained that Dad had got in contact with Mom, and what had happened on Saturday, being careful to leave out any mention of Aunt Miley or Hannah, that was not my secret to tell.

"But you can't tell anyone, it's being kept under wraps. I don't exactly want to be mobbed by paparazzi," I explained.

"Ok," Becky agreed, "But can I meet him? Like if I just happened to come home with you one day, and your Dad just happened to be there. Or Josh, or Mike, or Luke…" Becky trailed off, a dazed look on her face. Ross just rolled his eyes.

"Your welcome to try, but he hasn't really been over yet. It's still early days," I said.

"But maybe one day?" Becky said hopefully.

I just laughed as we walked into our first class.

Although cautious at first, Mom gradually seemed to get more comfortable with the idea of having Dad around. It was hard for her to completely forgive and forget what had happened all those years ago, but slowly but surely, she was beginning to open up to him again. Sometimes, when she thought nobody was watching, I'd catch Mom looking at Dad with a small smile on her face, as if thinking of something from another life. She would then catch herself, shake her head and frown, as if giving out to herself for reminiscing, because what good would that ever do anyone? Yet, ever since Dad had come back into our lives there was something different about Mom that I had never seen before, and when Mom and Dad were together often it seemed as though the last sixteen years had never happened.

It was three weeks until my sixteenth birthday and I was getting really excited. I was finally getting my licence and I was going to have my sweet sixteenth birthday party. It wasn't going to be anything big, just the family and some friends. What had me excited though was the idea that for the first time my Dad was going to be there to help me celebrate. That time last year, I wouldn't have been able to imagine that.

I was spending the day with Dad, just hanging out. I was chattering away merrily about my birthday and how he was probably going to have to hide when Becky arrived, when he interrupted me.

"Look Jemma there's something I need to tell you. In three days time the band and I are going to New York to shoot a video. We're not due to come back until two days before your birthday."

"What? When did this happen?" I was really confused, how had he not mentioned this before?

"It was really last minute, I'm sorry, but there's nothing I can do. I promise I'll be back in time for your birthday."

He looked so sincere, there was nothing I could say but, "Well ok, but you better not be late."

I was kind of disappointed that Dad was going away for so long, but I trusted him when he said he was going to be there. I just prayed I wasn't going to be wrong.


	8. Sweet Sixteen?: Disappointment

**Sweet Sixteen?:Disappointment**

My sweet sixteenth finally came round, and with it came my license. For years I had bugged Mom to allow me to go out with one of my uncles so they could teach me how to drive, well except for Uncle Jackson, I'd heard too many horror stories. When I was fifteen Mom allowed me to go with Uncle Oliver to a stretch of deserted beach to learn. Now I was sixteen, I had my learner's permit and I was able to go out on the road. Admittedly I had to be accompanied until I passed my test, but it was what I had been dreaming about since I was first able to sit up front in the car. Unlike my Dad, I wanted to pass my test before I was twenty.

Although I was excited about getting my license, it was slightly decreased by the fact that Dad and my Uncles had still not come back from New York yet. They had planned to come back two days before my birthday, but for the last two days I kept getting texts from Dad saying that they had been delayed, but would definitely be back the next day. So naturally, I was disappointed when I woke up on the morning of my birthday to find another text waiting for me.

"Hey Jem srry got dlayd again :( will def b dere 4 party 2nite Dad"

I sighed, threw some clothes on, and went downstairs.

Uncle Robby had come over specially to cook breakfast for me, chocolate chip pancakes, scrambled eggs and bacon, my favourites. I entered the kitchen to find Mom, Uncle Robby and Aunt Miley already there and eating.

"Happy birthday Jemma!" Mom cried, standing up and giving me a hug. She knew immediately by looking at me that something was wrong. "Delayed again?"

I nodded, but put on a smile, "But he said he'll be here tonight. Do we have juice?"

Mom nodded and I went over to the fridge. Once she was sure I wouldn't be able to see Mom mouthed, "What do I do?" at Aunt Miley, who shrugged and mouthed back "I don't know!"

"Hey Jem, how about we skip school and go shopping?" Mom suggested out loud, "Just us girls, me, you and Miley."

"Yeah, you can help Hannah pick out an outfit for her next concert," Aunt Miley put in.

"No thanks. I've got a biology test I can't miss," I said; bring the juice to the table.

Mom and Aunt Miley exchanged a look, "Ok, if you're sure. Oh, by the way, I know you want to leave presents until tonight, but this came in the, mail this morning," Mom said, holding up a brown envelope, with an official looking seal.

"My license!" I squealed, "Please, please, please can I drive to school this morning?" I begged.

Mom smiled, "Sure, I'll go with you as far as the High School and then I'll take the car to work"

"Coolies! Thanks for the breakfast Uncle Robby it looks delicious," I said sitting down.

"No problem, happy birthday bud," he said, leaning over and giving me a hug.

"I helped put the chocolate chips in!" Mom said proudly, as my fork was half way to my mouth.

I slowly put the fork down, "Are they safe?"

I drove to school without incident, although Mom seemed a little nervous. She claimed I drive too much like Uncle Oliver, which for her was never a compliment.

Ross and Becky had bought a cake and balloons, which did brighten up the day a little bit. I had biology last class, with Ross and Becky; we left grumbling about how evil Ms. Kunkle was. As we left Becky confirmed the plans for that night.

"Seven at your place right?"

"Yeah, and don't be late. I don't want to give Mom a chance to get all nostalgic and start to pull out the baby pictures," I shuddered as memories of my eleventh birthday started coming back to me, "You need to provide a distraction."

"Will do. And your Dad will be there right," Becky asked eagerly.

I smiled weakly, "Sure."

"Eeeps! I can't wait!" Becky jumped up and down, clapping her hands.

Ross rolled his eyes and waved goodbye as we went our separate ways.

I went home, showered and then started the long and arduous task of straightening my hair. Mom always said she loved it when I left my hair curly, but for as long as I could remember, definitely before I knew Matt was my Dad, something inside me craved to iron my hair straight.

I got dressed and went downstairs, where Mom and Aunt Miley were decorating.

"Hey, anything I can do to help?" I offered.

"Yeah," Mom said, not looking up from where she was struggling with a streamer, "Oliver's in the kitchen trying to figure out how to cook mini pizzas. At least show him how to turn on the oven."

By 6.45 we were ready. The house was decorated and food was cooked or cooking, nothing fancy, mainly from the frozen food section. The party itself was nothing big and fancy either, just the family and Becky and Ross, due to the fact that the public wasn't supposed to know about Dad.

People must have started to arrive at five to, because I remember Mom yelling, "Crap! They're early!" when the doorbell first rang, and Uncle Trey and Aaron coming in. People arrived in a steady stream over the next half hour. Everyone except my Dad.

Granny and Granddad tried to reassure me that they would be here, their plane must have been slightly delayed. I smiled and nodded at their reassurances, but underneath I felt disappointed and let down. Out of the corner of my eye I could see Mom getting angrier as memories of being let down by Dad were resurfacing.

At half eight the cake was brought out and everyone sang happy birthday. Pictures from that moment show me smiling but my eyes tell a different story. I was furious. I was furious at Dad for not being there, I was furious at Mom for reuniting us, and I was furious at myself for getting attached like that, and then being let down.

Granny and Granddad were looking increasingly awkward, as only one of their sons was there. I can't remember what Uncle Luke was like, Becky must have monopolised him. I saw Granddad slip out a couple of times, as I learned later, to make a couple of calls, but nobody was answering.

I had given up hope of Dad ever turning up at half nine. By quarter to ten I just wanted to abandon the party and go to my room and cry. That's when the doorbell rang.

Everyone went quiet, knowing exactly who it was, the only sound was an old Hannah cd playing "Nobody's Perfect". I went, opened the door, said "You're two and three quarters hours late", turned around and walked away.


	9. Sweet Sixteen?: Deals

**Sweet Sixeen?: Deals**

Sensing that I wouldn't want everyone watching, Aunt Miley quickly started to talk to Uncle Oliver about the surf that time of year. Becky, taking the hint, continued talking to Uncle Luke, and soon the buzz of conversation filled the room.

Dad followed me through the room, "Jem, wait! I didn't mean to be this late. I'm sorry."

"You could have rung," I shot back, not bothering to turn around.

"My battery is flat, and I forgot to reset my watch when we landed, I thought I was early," Dad tried to explain, "It wasn't until Mike mentioned that his body felt off kilter, that I realised how late I was. Jemma, I'm_ really_ sorry."

I spun round to face him, "You let me down Dad. You promised me you would be here, and you weren't." I turned on my heel and stormed up to my bedroom.

"Jem…" Dad tried to follow me, but Mom held him back.

"Oh you're not going anywhere Marshall. You screwed up bad this time. Now I'm going to go upstairs and try comfort my daughter, whose birthday you have just ruined. If you're lucky she might come down again, because goodness knows she is a lot more forgiving then her mother," Mom followed me up to my room.

Up in my room I was pacing up and down muttering to myself, "How could he do this to me? Shouldn't have trusted him… Mom was right… He could've at least called… UGH!" I threw my arms up in the air in frustration.

Mom knocked quietly and came in, "What was I right about?"

"Dad. Matt. I shouldn't have trusted him. You warned me about how you were hurt, and now it's happening all over again," I collapsed on my bed with my face in my hands, "I'm such an idiot."

"Hey, hey, if there is one thing you aren't, you aren't an idiot," Mom said, sitting down beside me, and putting her arms around me, "I was the idiot, I should have let this Matt thing happen more slowly. But what you have to remember is that he is a man, he can't always be held accountable for his actions. Something to do the testosterone, " I smiled slightly, "But you are not going to let him win. Yes, he should've rung. Yes, using Mike like that was a lame excuse, but you can't show him that he's hurt you."

"But I can't go back down now. I've already humiliated myself enough for one night. I don't think I can face him or anyone down there," I said.

"Aha, that's where you're wrong! Me and Miley have been in a lot more embarrassing situations," Mom pointed out, "So you are going to go down there, as if nothing is wrong, like the glamorous Truscott woman that you are. What you do down there is totally up to you. Personally I'd slap him, but it's your choice. But you are not going to let some stupid man, especially not Matt Marshall, ruin your sixteenth birthday party."

"Too late," I muttered, then louder, "But then it can't get any worse can it? Anyways I suppose I at least want to say hi to Uncle Mike and Uncle Josh, Matt can be an optional extra."

"That's the spirit! And if you're really good, we can have a food fight later, but we direct it all at Matt," Mom said, her eyes gleaming.

"Sounds like a plan," I grinned.

We both smiled evilly at each other and went back downstairs.

I could feel everyone's gaze on me as I rejoined the party, but every time I looked around, they were all deep in conversation. I walked over to where my Uncles, Aunt and Dad were standing.

"Uncle Josh, Uncle Mike!" I said, "It's so good to see you. Hey Aunt Louise, how was New York? I hear they have some pretty good shopping."

I hugged them all, but I deliberately missed out and ignored Dad. My Uncles and Dad exchanged a look, which I once again decided to ignore.

"Hey, happy birthday! Sorry we were late", Uncle Josh apologized.

"Yeah, but New York was great. The video is going to be amazing!" Uncle Mike enthused.

"I don't doubt it," I grinned.

Dad was standing awkwardly to one side, with a blond woman I didn't recognise, but since I had decided to ignore Dad, she was being ignored as well.

I was talking to Aunt Louise about the shopping she had done when Dad interrupted, "Hey Jemma, could we talk for a moment? In private?"

I rolled my eyes, "I'm talking to Aunt Louise right now. It would be rude to leave."

"Please?"

I sighed and excused myself, leading Dad into the kitchen. It was empty except for Uncle Jackson trying to find some more chips, but he had enough tact to leave quickly.

I continued Uncle Jackson's search after he had left, leaving Dad leaning awkwardly against the worktop.

"Look Jemma I'm sorry," he attempted.

"Mmhmm…" I continued to ignore him.

Dad continued, "I know I shouldn't have let things get out of hand like that."

"Right… Where did Mom put those chips?" I muttered to myself, and then to Dad, "You know the ones with the ruffles?"

"Forget the damn chips Jemma and talk to me!"

I turned on him, "What do you want me to say Dad? Huh? That it's all okay? That I forgive you for being delayed again and again, and all I get is a text saying "Sorry, but definitely tomorrow". Or that it's fine you were nearly three hours late to my sixteenth birthday party? Or even that it's just peachy that you couldn't even ring your own daughter to let her know you were at least on your way? Because I can't. I just can't. I really thought you had changed from being the immature twenty-one year old that ran out on his girlfriend and unborn child, but I guess I was wrong. I thought it had happened all over again, I thought you had abandoned us again!" Tears were threatening to spill over, but I wiped them away angrily.

Dad was in shock at my outburst, "I could never abandon you Jem…" he said quietly.

"You did a pretty good job of it before," I muttered.

Dad sighed, "I was scared and stupid. I didn't know what to do, so I said stupid things and then I did nothing, the worst mistake of my life."

"Well you might've just made another. How am I supposed to believe that you won't do it again?" I asked.

"Because I have matured Jemma," Dad replied earnestly, "Admittedly tonight wasn't the greatest example of it…"

"Ya think?" I said quietly under my breath.

"… But I'm willing to make a deal with you. Give me three chances, if I strike out, I leave for good," I raised an eyebrow, "And you get to decide the strikes. Deal?" He stuck out his hand.

I thought about it for a moment. If I said no, he would leave now and then no more disappointments, but then if I said yes, he could still disappoint but I could still have my Dad.

"Ok deal. But that was strike one," I said shaking his hand.

"Fine," he agreed, "Shall we rejoin the others?"

"Yeah, lets go."

We weren't back to perfect, but we went back out with a certain degree of cordiality.

I noticed Mom, Aunt Miley and Uncle Oliver standing nearby, because apparently Uncle Oliver and Aunt Miley had been holding Mom back from listening at the door. Mom gave me a questioning look, but Dad was leading me in the opposite direction towards his brothers, I smiled and nodded at Mom as if to say, "It's fine, but I'll tell you about it later."

Dad steered me across the room, stopping where the whole Marshall clan was standing.

Granny stepped forward, giving me a hug, "Hey! Ok, so I just wanted to say on behalf of all of us, happy birthday and thank you for inviting us."

"Aw thanks Granny! I'm just so glad you guys all came!"

"Well, we wanted to get you something, to make up for all those birthdays that we missed," Uncle Mike said, bringing an oddly shaped package out from behind his back.

Taking it with some difficulty, I put it down and started to rip away the paper, underneath which there was a cardboard box. I opened the box and my eyes grew wide in amazement.

"Wow" I breathed softly.

Inside the box was one of the most beautiful things I have ever seen; it was a midnight blue electric Fender guitar. I took it out carefully to play, but something caught my eye. I turned the guitar over to find all the Marshalls had had their signatures engraved into the guitar.

"Wow," I repeated, "It's beautiful. Thank you so much."

"It was the least we could do," Granddad said, "Although the credit should go to Matt. It was his idea."

"Thanks Dad," I smiled at him properly for the first time that evening.

Dad smiled back, "Hey, maybe you could play us one of your songs."

"What songs?" I panicked, "What are you talking about? I don't write. Hey, have you seen those salmon puffs?"

"Ok, forget I asked" Dad said hurriedly, as the rest of the family started to laugh.

"As soon as I can," I muttered.

Dad suddenly became very awkward, "So um, Jem, there's someone I want you to meet", the Jonases all stiffened slightly, as the blond woman I had noticed earlier edged forward, "Jemma this is my girlfriend. This is Kimberly."

Kimberly air kissed me and gave me a huge toothy smile, "Hi! It's so good to meet you! Matty has told me so much about you! OMM, Matt you were so totally right, she is sooo adorable! OMM we are so totally going to be best friends!"

I was slightly taken aback by this over bubbly woman, "Um, hi, Kimberly…"

"Kimmy" she interrupted, giving me another sickening smile.

"Kimmy, it's nice to meet you… So um how long have you going out with my Dad? Because I thought the papers said you guys had broken up about three months ago" I asked, trying to make conversation that would avoid being referred to as "adorable".

"Oh it's been like a year. A totally fabulous year with my Matty. The break up story was a phoney to keep them off our backs," Kimmy gushed.

"Huh, a year? Never broke up?" I put on a confused tone, "Because it's funny that _Matty_ never mentioned you."

Dad looked a bit guilty, "I just wanted to get to know you better first before I introduced you to Kimmy," he tried to explain.

"Right…" I nodded with a raised eyebrow, "And where are you from Kimmy? That accent doesn't sound very west coast."

"Oh no honey! I'm from New York!"

My eyebrow went even higher, my hands now on my hips, "New York huh? Because that's weird, because they just came back late from New York. What a coinkidink."

"I know! I'm like so totally sorry about that. You see I said that Matty's hair was flipped the wrong way at the last moment, and then they looked back and OMM it was!" Kimmy exclaimed, as if the world could have come to an end.

"A hair flip?" I echoed in disbelief.

"It's for the fans." Kimmy said, as if that made everything better.

Dad jumped in "And then there was the time difference and the phone…" he trailed off.

"Right, uhuh… Ok I get it, it's for the fans. Because they are so much more important than your only daughter," I said sarcastically.

Dad looked hurt at that comment, Kimmy looked confused. Uncle Mike pulled me slightly to the side.

"Hey Jemma give him a break," he whispered, "Kimmy may be a pain in the ass, but she's just a replacement for…" He cut himself off suddenly.

"A replacement for who?" I asked.

"Uh no one," Uncle Mike flustered, "Matt's happy, so just give him a break ok?"

"Ok, whatever," I shrugged.

I turned back to the group where Kimmy started talking to me again, "So Jemma, I was thinking, we should so totally go shopping together, you know just us Marshall girls, Louise can come too. We can totally bond!"

A look of terror flashed across Aunt Louise's face.

"Awesome" I choked out.

"Fab!" She whipped out her phone, "Well I'm free this Tuesday at 11.30"

"Um, I've kind of got school," I pointed out.

"Oh, pssh, can't you just reschedule? Anyways it's only school, sure I skipped most of senior year and look where I am today," Kimmy said, earning glares from Granny and Granddad.

"I think I'll go to school thanks," I said, with a slight tone of disbelief of this woman standing in front of me.

Kimmy didn't seem to notice, "Tell you what, give me your cell number and I'll have my people call your people."

"My people…?"

Suddenly, out of nowhere Mom materialised beside me, "Hi, I don't think we've been introduced, I'm Lilly, Jemma's Mom."

"OMM! Lilly! I'm Kimmy, Matty's girlfriend. Matty has told me so much about you!" Kimmy air kissed Mom, leaving Mom looking slightly sick, "You guys were so cute together. Although I can see why it didn't work out, you just aren't compatible."

"Excuse me?"

"Don't feel bad darling, it happens to the best of us, well except me and Matty are the perfect couple. We have chemistry," Kimmy gushed, wrapping an arm around Dad.

"Did you even pass chemistry?" Mom muttered under her breath, earning her a dirty look from Dad.

"Sorry honey, what did you say?"

"Oh um, chemistry, wow that's great," Mom covered up.

"I know we were so meant to be," Kimmy sighed, looking up at Dad with adoring eyes, "I mean Matty was always my favourite when I was a kid, but who would have thunk I would be going out with the boy of my dreams? Isn't life just so funny?"

"Hilarious," Mom said, in a deadpan voice, "Sorry how old did you say you were Kimmy?"

"Twenty-two, but I think age is irrelevant in a relationship like ours. Nothing would ever keep me from my Matty."

"Wow, that's great for you guys. Congrats Kimmy and _Matty_," Mom was getting dangerously sarcastic, and the only person not picking up on it was Kimmy.

"You know what Mom, I think I saw Nana looking for you. Lets go, sorry guys," I started to pull Mom away.

"So lovely to meet you Kimmy," Mom said.

"Lets go Mom," I muttered.

"I'll ring you Jemma darling about the shopping," Kimmy called after us.

"Sure sounds great," I replied.

We made sure we were well out of earshot before; "OMM?"

"Matty? Are you freakin' kidding me?"

"You mean you never called him Matty?" I teased.

"Do you seriously have that low of an opinion of your own mother?"

"It fluctuates."

"Understandable."

"So what are we going to do about her?" I asked, as we reached the drinks table.

"What do you mean?" Mom replied, pouring us both cokes.

"Well she wants to be all bondy," I said, pulling a face at the thought of being bondy with Kimmy.

"She is your Dad's girlfriend," Mom pointed out, "And they do have 'chemistry'. Maybe she wants to be a part of your life because she's a part of your Dad's life."

"But she's all chirpy, and did you see that hair? Definitely not natural."

"The way I see it, she's a part of Joe's life, and Joe is going to be part of your life, then she's a part of your life," Mom said.

"Like one giant preppy Venn diagram," I said with disgust.

"Exactly. Though I agree about the hair, I've seen better wigs," Mom pulled a face, "So what were you guys talking about in the kitchen?"

"Later?"

"Ok, but remember, I know where you live," Mom threatened teasingly.

Becky ended the conversation by coming over and asking to be introduced to Dad and his brothers. I have to say I was very proud of her. She didn't scream, jump up and down or faint, though that could have been due to the fact that she was too much in a state of shock to do anything. She just stood there dumbstruck, nodding at everything they said.

People started to leave at around one, finishing with Aunt Miley and Uncle Oliver promising to come over the next day to help tidy. We finally closed the door, turned our backs on the mess that was our downstairs, and went up to our bedrooms.

As soon as I got into my room, I found a pen and a piece of paper and wrote "Dad Strikes" adding "1" below.


	10. Life Goes On

**Life Goes On**

Two months after my birthday, Uncle Mike and Aunt Louise announced they were pregnant. When they had first gotten married ten years before, they knew wanted to have kids, and lots of them. And so they tried. After six months Aunt Louise was pregnant but she miscarried early on. Two years later she miscarried again, at which stage Uncle Mike and Aunt Louise were nearly ready to give up and were starting to look at the option of adoption. However, a year later Aunt Louise was pregnant again. It was a relatively smooth pregnancy, considering their history. When Sam Marshall was born every magazine wanted the first photographs of the 'first' of the next generation of Marshalls. But Uncle Mike and Aunt Louise were so protective of their 'little miracle', nobody was allowed near Sam unless they were family or friends. Apparently Uncle Josh was once sent out of the room for sneezing.

When Sam was seven months old he died from, what was diagnosed as, Sudden Infant Death Syndrome. Uncle Mike and Aunt Louise were distraught and it nearly destroyed them and their marriage. The band had to cancel a tour because of the family tragedy, and Uncle Kevin stopped attending practices and just spent his time on his own writing songs. As Uncle Mike spent more and more time alone, Aunt Louise began to go more and more into herself. She was prescribed anti depressants, but it didn't help the constant fighting between them. However, after months of counselling and family support Uncle Mike and Aunt Louise finally came together in their grief, and mourned properly for their son who had been so cruelly taken away from them.

For a few years they stopped trying, but then the year Dad and I reunited, they felt it was time to rebuild their family and not replace Sam, but instead have the brother or sister he would have loved. When Aunt Louise finally discovered she was pregnant again, she and Uncle Mike kept it quiet, not daring to hope. Three months into the pregnancy their doctor told them everything was progressing normally, and it was looking good. So at a family event they finally broke the news, much to everyone's astonishment and joy. As everyone congratulated the couple I heard Kimmy whisper to Dad, not very quietly, "I thought she was looking a little chubby".

~x~

David Ryan was my first official boyfriend. David had always been in my grade, but because he was away so often with his parents on location, he was hardly ever in school. I had met him a couple of times as Jemima, but Jake never told him about Hannah/Miley, so he never knew who I really was. He was very shy as well, so used to living in the shadow of his parents, so he never really said anything at events or in school. A few weeks after my birthday Jake announced that he was starting a chat show on ABC "The Jake Ryan Show". This meant that David, his sister Lucy and his parents would be living in California permanently.

When David started Seaview he was stalked and mobbed by nearly every Jake Ryan fan girl in the school, much in the same way Aunt Miley, Uncle Oliver and Mom remembered his Dad being mobbed. However, unlike his Dad, David hated the attention and often ran and hid from it, literally. That's how we found him in a stairwell, asking if the crazy people were gone yet. We invited him to come over for pizza and a movie that night, so he could get to know some non-crazy Seaview students. He agreed and that night we found a new another side to David Ryan. He was humorous, smart and had a liking for Star Wars. And so our trio became a foursome, and although he never said it, I think Ross was glad to have another guy in the group.

As I got to know David more, I got to like him more, until one day I realised that I "liked him liked him". I felt so clichéd as I confessed this to Becky, and apparently David felt the same when he confessed the same to Ross. And then he did one of the cutest things a guy has done for me, he asked Mom's permission to date me. Mom was in shock, not accepting that her little baby was all grown up and ready to date. Mom had liked David at first, but now that he wanted to date her baby, he immediately became the enemy, especially since Aunt Miley and Jake's relationship had been such a disaster. But would always straighten up proudly at this point in the story, when she said that she looked past her prejudices and realised that she knew that David was a good kid and that I really did like him. So she consented.

So that Friday we went to the Roller Rink for my first proper date with my first proper boyfriend. David offered to take me to take me to a Hannah Montana concert, but I declined knowing that at least half my family would be there, albeit in disguise, but still not the most romantic of situations having your Uncle Oliver giving your date evil eyes, and then having your date wonder why Mike Standley the Third is stalking him. The Roller Rink was the safe option. Although we got some stares from some of the girls there wondering if that was _the_ David Ryan, and evil glares towards me when they realised it was. I didn't care though, an earthquake might have happened and I wouldn't have noticed, because I was in one of those moments that you wish would never end.

After we had been a couple for two months I decided it was time to tell David about Dad. At first he was a little shocked and angry for not telling him sooner. He understood though why we had kept it outside of the public eye, he had grown up with the paparazzi, and would not wish that life on anyone. I think he always held that grudge though, of not trusting him sooner.

David had already met Dad and the band at several events, so there wasn't really a need for a formal introduction, just an informal one as Dad and boyfriend. For some strange and unknown reason David didn't find Kimmy as annoying as the rest of us did. But then he was surrounded by fake, needy people 24/7, where as we only had them nights and weekends. It was useful to have David there to jump in and take over when Kimmy once again left me lost for words, or Mom was about to slap her.

~x~

They say some people naturally gravitate towards other like minded people, and that's how Amber and Kimmy found each other. Back in 2010 Amber was a one hit wonder with "Like Oohh (Tss)!". Amber was in the same grade as Mom in Seaview, and as far back as she could rememeber they had been at each other's throats. Whenever Amber was mentioned Mom usually muttered that the only reason Amber reached number one, was because Hannah was recording at the time , and so hadn't released any new songs yet.

Amber's best friend at Seaview had been a pretty talentless girl called Ashley, but as soon as Amber became famous, she dumped Ashley like a puppy after Christmas. However, after "Like Oohh (Tss)!" Amber didn't just fade into obscurity, and crawl back to Ashley like nothing had changed, but instead became a permanent fixture of the Californian social scene, one of those people who you're not sure why they're famous; they just are. So when Kimmy and Amber met, they seemed to click. They became the next b-list clelebrity bffs, and they would have almost become the next Lindsay and Samantha, had Kimmy not had her claws in Dad and she wasn't trying to set Amber up with Uncle Josh.

Despite the countless number of fan girls who would have killed to marry Uncle Josh, he had, to that point, never settled down. He would date a woman for a year or so but then they would both mutually break it off, always remaining good friends. When asked why he hadn't settled down yet, Uncle Josh would just smile and say he was "waiting for that special someone". Some tabloids speculated there was a connection between the fact that both Hannah Montana and Uncle Josh had both not settled down.

Kimmy saw Uncle Josh's apparently confirmed bacholerhood as a challenge, and thought she had found a match in her new best friend. Suddenly Amber started to pop up every event or party the band happened to be at. As the only unaccompanied member of the band, Uncle Josh would somehow always end up beside Amber, and that's when the photographs would start, followed in quick succession by the rumours. Then two months after the rumours started, a source close to the pair was quoted as saying "Nick and Amber are so totally made for eachother. They are just so cutre together!" Amber was only too happy to go aling with this, Uncle Josh was a different story.

He strenously denied any rumours that connected Amber and himself, telling the papers that "she was just a friend". Although in private he didn't really have any idea who Amber was, and really didn't like her, because of what Kimmy and Amber were doing. He tried to talk about it to Dad, but Dad just brushed it off, saying he needed to lighten up, and maybe try dating her, because "you never know what it could lead to". Still he refused to have anything to have with Amber, often deliberatly walking away from the cameras when she approached. Uncle Josh resented Kimmy for starting the whole thing off, and Dad slightly by extention.

~x~

Dad and Kimmy (or Katt) seemed to be going from strength to strength. It seemed like every day People or OK would have another picture of the love struck couple doing coupley things. And as the family, we ever more endured Kimmy's bonding excersises. I have always loved shopping , especially when it was for a concert, but Kimmy managed to latch on to that love and suck it dry. I almost slapped her on more than one occassion while on one of Kimmy's bonding trips. I was only stopped by Aunt Louise giving me a hard dig in the ribs.

The whole family was starting to get more and more annoyed at Kimmy, and at Dad for still dating her. We tried to keep the idea of what ever makes Matt happy makes us happy in our heads, but every day Kimmy made it harder and harder.

~x~

When I was only a few months old Uncle Oliver married his high school sweetheart, Joannie. Mom had gotten along with Joannie, but Aunt Miley found her to be the worst thing since "Uncle Earl tried to fry steak with chocolate and cabbage". However, she gritted her teeth and bore it, if it made Uncle Oliver happy. And he was. He worshipped the ground he walked on, and in return Joannie adored him.

After three years Joannie began to get openly irratated that Aunt Miley, Mom and Uncle Oliver would go out for the night "to bowl" or "go to the movies", and never invite her. Then after five years, when Aaron was born, she was annoyed that Unlce Oliver wouldn't commit to having kids. Joannie hated that Aunt Miley had beaten her to having her first kid, even though Uncle Oliver and her had been married longer. But, at twenty-six Uncle Oliver didn't feel ready to have kids. He adored Aaron and me, but he didn't feel ready yet.

And so slowly but surely Uncle Oliver and Joannie started to drift more and more apart as more and more obstacles were wedged between them. Their final straw for their marriage came when I was eight and Uncle Oliver came home early from a Hannah concert, only to find Joannie in bed with Johnny Collins. They were divorced and Joannie had moved out within three months.

Uncle Oliver was heart broken. He had known that things had been strained between them, but he thought they were working through them. Apparently Joannie thought they weren't, because she had been having an affair with Johnny for the past year.

It took Uncle Olliver the best part of a year to get back to somewhere near where he was before. "Smokin' Oken" returned, but not with the same spark.

~x~

Mom started to date again when I was three, after Aunt Miley set her up on a blind date. Mom was reluctant to try, not knowing how to juggle both raising a daughter and a social life, but she went along with it, after been reassured Aunt Miley would take good care of me. Needless to say the date was a disaster, an evening at a cock fight would have ended better than the dinner Mom had. She dated on and off for the next thirteen years, but no one stuck for more than six months. Whenever Mom told Aunt Miley that she had split up with her current boyfriend, Aunt Miley would roll her eyes and call her a "commitment phobe". I never met them either, for my own protection apparently. Mom didn't want me to get attached and used to the idea of another person around, only for them to suddenly up and leave.

~x~

Unlce Oliver told me once that part of him always liked Mom a little more than just his best friend, but there had always been someone or something between them, stopping them. That was until a few days before Mom's birthday, when Mom went to Uncle Oliver in a foul mood, needing to vent.

Kimmy had been trying to be all bondy with me again, except this time we had been spotted and a photographer got a picture. Kimmy had brushed it off, telling the photographer that I was "such a super close friend, she's practically family". But it was too close for Mom, so she confronted Dad about it.

Dad was really relaxed about it, saying no harm had come from it. Mom countered that it had been his idea to keep me away from the public, to protect his "image". All it would have taken would be one person to recognise me and put the pieces together. Dad conceeded that they would just have to be more careful. Mom snorted at this, saying the only person not being careful was Kimmy.

"Well maybe if you had just married me in the first place like I said we should, then there wouldn't be a Kimmy," Dad cried.

"What?"

"There wouldn't have been anything to hide if you hadnn't been so damn stubborn."

"You are seriously not trying to pin this on me?!" Mom cried incredously.

"Your stubbourness, our problem" Dad said, crossing his arms.

"You are such a brat you know that right? A spoiled, rich brat!"

"Well Kimmy is refreshing after your smart assed reluctance to realise what is going on!"

"Oh yeah, because it was so dumb of me not to get married at twenty one," Mom shot back, sarcastically, "Who was the one who ran out to protect his boy band image?"

"I ran out? You're the one who just left. I wasn't given much of a choice" Dad defended.

Mom shook her head in disbelief, "You always had the oppurtunity, but no as usual you were too scared and self possesed. You know in the first years after Jemma was born I used to think "What would it be like if Matt came back?" There were apoligies and happy endings, but now I see reality is so different , it practically laughs in the face of my fantasies. Maybe some part of me was still holding out for you, but not any more. You have your bimbo and all is right with the world."

Dad faltered for a second before blurting out, "So let's cut her out! Marry me!"

Mom stood still, "What?" she whispered.

"Marry me?," Dad repeated, quieter.

Mom suddenly started shaking her head and pacing, "Oh no! No no no! You can't just do that. You can't just propose to end an argument or solve a difficulty. You don't even know me anymore."

Dad grabbed Mom, and looked her straight in the eye, "Lilly Truscott, you haven't changed since you turned twenty one. You are still beautiful, stubborn and smart. Don't think I know you? I know you better than anyone."

Mom took her hands away from Dad's, but still continued looking him in the eye, "You're wrong I have changed," she said quietly, "I've learned to cut corners,so people don't know we could starve next week. I've learned how to juggle raising a child and a job. I've learned how to explain to said daughter why her Daddy isn't around, but still loves her. I have grown up and changed. But you Matt, you're still twenty one, always have been and always will be. You can't just walk out and walk back in expecting everything to be exactly the same. People change they move on," Seeing that nothing was really registering with Dad, Mom snapped, "You might want to step out of your damn bubble and learn that!"

Dad gave a short laugh, "Yeah, but your still a stubborn smart ass."

Mom threw her hands up in the air, "Ugh! You're so... you're so... you're so screwed up!"

Dad shrugged "Fine."

"Fine?" Mom echoed.

"Fine."

"FINE!" And with that Mom turned on her heel, and left, slamming the front door behind her.

When she arrived at Uncle Oliver's she nearly broke the doorbell trying to get his attention. A confused Uncle Oliver answered the door, because, as he said, who would want to break his doorbell? Mom pushed past him and started to pace his living room, all the time muttering about Dad. Uncle Oliver closed the door and turned round to face Mom.

"Ugh, he thinks he's all that. Mr. Boyband Rockstar, well I'll give him boyband rockstar. And he thinks he knows me. Me! After all these years he just waltzes back in thinking nothing has changed? He is so wrong on so many levels. I have changed. I've had to change. Where was he for the last sixteen years, huh? Galavanting across the world that's where!" Mom aswered, not expecting an answer.

"Uh, Lilly...?"

"And then suddenly reappears thinking he can just slot back in and be Jemma's best friend, like she's some sort of toy? And that Kimmy girl? What a waste of space! I mean who is she? A random bimbo he picked up in Las Vegas? She's worse than Matt! She doesn't even have a right to tlak to Jemma never mind be all bondy with her! And, and, and..." Mom slowed down and stopped, looking at Uncle Oliver with tears in her eyes. "I don't think I can do this Oliver. Jemma's so happy at the moment but what happens when Matt leaves? She'll be crushed."

Tears started to fall down Mom's face. Uncle Oliver stepped foward and took her into his arms, rocking her gently, "Shh, it's ok, it's ok"

"It's just so hard," Mom hiccoughed into Uncle Oliver's chest, "I'm just so tired of everything. Of Matt, of Kimmy, of all this pretence. I'm so sick of it. I just want it all to go away."

Uncle Oliver continued to soothe her gently, "Shh, it's ok, it's ok"

Mom pulled her face out of Unlce Oliver's chest and looked up at him, "Help me Ollie."

"How?" Unlce Oliver asked quietly.

Mom sighed and shook her head, "I don't know."

Unlce Oliver looked down at Mom's tear stained face, and bent down and kissed her. He said later that it was probably the gentlest and sweetest kiss he had ever had. A few seconds later Uncle Oliver pulled away, as Mom in quiet shock opened her eyes.

"Thank you," she whispered.

Uncel Oliver just pulled her into a hug and half carried her to the couch, where they lay in comfortable silence for the best part of an hour. For the first time in ages Mom felt warm and secure.

Slowly but surely Mom and Uncle Oliver's relationship began to develop. The first few weeeks were unsure and unsteady as they didn't quite know how to go from best friends to boyfriend and girlfriend. It was also a bit awkward. I was really happy for Mom and Uncle Oliver, for the first time in long while Mom was openly smiling. But it was a bit weird sometimes, nobody really knew what the protocol was when your Mom started dating your uncle.

For example, one night I was still up doing homework, when I realised I had left one of my books in the car. So I went downstairs and opened the front door, only to see Mom and Uncle Oliver suddenly spring apart.

"Um, hi" I said, very awkwardly.

"So, um, I'll see you tomorrow Oliver?" Mom blustered.

"Yeah, sure. See ya Lilly, Jemma."

"Bye" I said, giving a small wave.

Unlce Oliver got into his car and drove away as Mom and I walked into the house and closed the door behind us.

"Nice date?"

"Yeah...," silence, "So that was a bit wierd," Mom said breaking it.

"Yeah, we should have a special knock or something," I joked lightly.

"Oh, I should have invited him in or something, it's not like I was trying to hide him or anything."

"Yeah, I know. Maybe next time."

"It's just I really don't know what to do. You've never really met anyone I've dated. But now there's Oliver, who you've known since day zero," Mom said, as we walked over to sit on the couch.

"Hey, I really don't mind if you invite him in, it's your house," I said, sitting down, "It's just Mom..."

"Yeah?"

"Just be careful, ok? I don't want to seee you hurt, especially not by Uncle Oliver. Take it slowly ok?" I said.

Mom smiled, "Thanks, but I'll be ok. I think at this stage I can handle whatever happens."

"Ok, I'm going to go finish my homework. 'Night Mom, I love you," I said, giving her a hug.

"Love you too" Mom answered, as she hugged me back.

I hoped Mom would take my advice , because I loved both Mom and Uncle Oliver too much for either of them to get hurt.

~x~

Unlce Luke was always the most hopelessly romantic of the brothers, and he always blamed it on the fact that he was surrounded by his brothers' love songs growing up. He was also a lot more independant, and although he loved his family, he always wanted to get away from the idea of just being the other Marshall brother, and be just Luke. He finally convinced Granny and Grandad to allow him to go to a boarding school for his high school education, from which he moved onto college after a year out, where he met Donna.

Donna was a political science major, while Uncle Luke majored in musical education. They met after Donna was not looking where she was going while drinking a cup of coffeee and reading at the same time. She tripped on a broken piece of paving, spilling her coffee all over Uncle Luke. Donna was so embarressed, she kept on saying how sorry she was and dabbing a tissue his coffee stained shirt. Uncle Luke just laughed, and asked if she wanted to go get another cup of coffee. Donna got a cup of tea.

They graduated together two years later. Donna got a job as an intern at the United Nations, and Uncle Luke continued his studies to become a music teacher, in New York so he could be close to Donna.

One evening not long after my birthday, Uncle Luke and Donna went to see a show, and then went for a walk through Central Park. After a while Uncle Luke asked Donna to sit down, and at his signal a friend came out from behind a bush and handed Uncle Luke his guitar. He took the instrument , sat down beside Donna and started to play a song he had written for her called "Loving You". By the end of it Donna was nearly in tears, and she nearly had a heart attack when Uncle Luke then got down on one knee and proposed to her. Donna was speechless for a few seconds before she squeaked out a "yes".

The same day Aunt Louise announced she was pregnant, Uncle Luke announced he was engaged. Kimmy once again whispered very loudly to Dad "Oh look Matty your _baby_ brother is getting married. Isn't that just great?"

The date was set for five months time, a month before Aunt Louise was due. They decided to have it in Malibu, as Aunt Louise wanted to give birth there, because she had family of her own there. So rather than making a heavily pregnant woman travel half way across the country, the wedding was set up around the heavily pregnant woman.


	11. The Wedding

**A/N: **Wow. I can't believe it's been so long. I'm really sorry. But then today I got this flash of inspriation to do this chapter which has been on the backburner for almost 10 months now. I retweaked the previous chapters to fit in with the show at the moment, so Lilly is now a teacher. And while doing that I managed to delete all the A/Ns of previous chapters, so that was smart. So I guess at this stage nobody will be reading this will they? Ah well, I guess I'll just keep writing then :). Oh and Happy Christmas!

* * *

**The Wedding**

The next five months were pure chaos.

Th church Uncle Luke and Donna wanted to get married in was free for only one Saturday, and so everything else revolved around that, including booking the reception hall, which they finally booked two months before the wedding.

Donna had one sister, Claudia, who was to be her bridesmaid. This had been decided early on, with Dad, Uncle Josh and Uncle Mike being Uncle Luke's grooms men. Except nobody told Kimmy.

Kimmy, even though not an officially a member of the family, and had only met Donna twice, had assumed that naturally she would a bridesmaid. One month before the wedding Kimmy took Donna aside, and "gently" suggested that maybe it was time to get the bridesmaid dresses. Donna was confused telling Kimmy that Claudia had already bought her dress.

Kimmy decided to take the blunt approach saying "Who's Claudia? What about my dress?"

"Claudia's my sister...." Donna said slowly, "and I'm pretty sure you're old enough at this stage to buy dresses all by yourself."

"So should I be coordinated with Claudia?"

Donna was starting to get irritated "Why?"

Kimmy sighed, giving Donna a condescending smile "Well, the bridesmaids can't exactly clash, now can they darling?"

Donna let out a laugh "Wait, you don't think that you're a bridesmaid, do you? I've met you, what twice?"

"But the press expect it" exclaimed a slightly put out Kimmy.

"Oh dear." Donna said flatly, eyebrows raised slightly, "I think the press will survive. They're not even going to be there. Why should they care?"

Kimmy's eyes widened in shock, "What do you mean the press aren't going to be there? Of course the press will be there! This was going to be the signal to the paps that Mat and me are "back together". It was going to be perfect. Him the grooms man, me the bridesmaid. Our eyes meet across the aisle, and bam!," she exclaimed, clapping her hands together, "We're back together. A perfect fairytale."

"Well, sorry, but your going to have to find somewhere else to have your fairytale Cinderella. My wedding, my fairytale. No press, got it?" Donna said firmly.

"Whatever. Honestly, talk about bridezilla much?" Kimmy muttered darkly as she stalked away.

Like Uncle Mike and Aunt Louise before them, Uncle Luke and Donna refused to let any paparazzi near the wedding, much to Kimmy's disgust. Now and then unknown or undisclosed sources would let out a little tit bit about the wedding. Never too much, but a little detail, like Donna's dress designer, or the band playing at the wedding. Donna and Uncle Luke were irritated by this, and had a fairly good idea who the source was, but they decided to ignore it.

Donna told me later "What was the point in fighting it? Nothing too drastic was being released, nobody was being hurt. It was only when she went too far, that's when Luke really exploded..." she giggled at the memory.

"Baby Marshall to wed in two week!" So said all the headlines on the tabloids. Uncle Luke was furious and went directly to the assumed source.

Kimmy was on her own at her and Dad's apartment when Uncle Luke came over to confront her.

"What the hell do you think you are doing?" he demanded pushing past her and into the living area.

Kimmy giggled, "What do you mean Luke? I think someone is getting a little freaked out" she said, poking him slightly.

"Stop it!" Uncle Luke exclaimed, pushing her hand away, "Look, we both know you did it, and I don't care if you are screwing my brother or not, it's got to stop."

Kimmy pouted, "I don't know what you're talking about little Lukey..."

"I'm older than you"

Kimmy rolled her eyes, "Now, now Lukey, you seem to be getting a little agitated over nothing."

"You knew. You knew we wanted a press free event, and yet you still went ahead and told them."

Kimmy gave a little smirk, "Oh yeah? Prove it."

Uncle Luke faltered. It was obvious she had told them, but he had no hard proof.

"That's what I thought. Next time you accuse someone, try and have the facts right. Now run along little boy", Kimmy held the door open for him.

Uncle Luke glared at her, "Fine. But one more thing gets leaked, and I swear brother or no brother, you are out."

Kimmy smiled sweetly, "Well let's hope nothing gets leaked. Bye bye now"

"Coincidently" nothing did get leaked after that, and two weeks later Uncle Luke and Donna were married. The reception was held in a hotel down the road from the church. David looked so damn handsome to me, well according to my diary that day, I was totally oblivious to all the drama that was unfolding around me.

All I could tell you about the reception is that the bride wore white, I wore blue, and David wore a cream shirt with a blue tie. The rest is of what is written here is gathered from the others who were there and actually paid attention.

The ceremony itself went off without a hitch. Donna walked down the aisle, they said their vows, and Kimmy seethed quietly in a corner. All was good. At the reception photos were taken, food was eaten, speeches were made. According to Aunt Louise, Kimmy spent her time fidgeting and whispering to Dad. Dad was getting more and more irritated until he finally snapped. After the speeches Dad jumped up, and taking Kimmy with him, walked outside.

Aunt Louise was outside getting some fresh air when she saw Dad and Kimmy come out and heard the whole conversation.

"What the hell is your problem Kimmy?!" Dad near shouted, pacing up and down.

"Jeez, I could ask you the same question Matt" Kimmy said, taking out a pocket mirror, and examining herself.

"I've tried putting up with you all day, but for once Kimmy you're not the centre of my attention!"

"But I'm your girlfriend! You should be paying attention to me, it's like the rules of dating" Kimmy snapped the mirror shut.

Dad threw his hands up in the air "Grow up Kimmy! It's my brother's wedding, of course I'm not going to concentrate on you the whole time."

"Oh sure, you can't pay attention to me, but you've got plenty of time for Jemma and Lilly" Kimmy said, putting her hands on her hips

"What?" Dad was gobsmacked.

"Yeah, sure no time for your girlfriend, but you had loads of time to talk to Jemma after the service."

"She's my daughter!"

"And I saw you ogling at Lilly all the way through the speeches."

Dad half laughed, "That's ridiculous Kimmy, I wasn't "ogling" Lilly at all. She's with Oliver!"

Kimmy put up a hand, "Whatever Matt, go off with Lilly, see if I care"

"Screw you Kimmy, screw you, believe what you want, I'm out of here"

And with that Dad turned around and went back into the party. Kimmy stood there for a few seconds, then stomped her feet a couple of times, letting out a little scream. She took a couple of breaths, tossed her hair over her shoulder and walked back into the room.

Aunt Louise shook her head, heaved herself back onto her feet and followed the other two back in. She saw Dad at the bar ordering a drink and Kimmy at her seat, chatting to a distant Marshall cousin.

Two hours, and what must have been several drinks later, Uncle Josh says he saw Dad staring intently at Mom who was talking and laughing with Uncle Oliver. Kimmy at this stage had moved from the cousin to a waiter. Uncle Oliver got up from the table got up to go to the bathroom, and Dad seized his opportunity. He downed the rest of his scotch and made his way over to Mom.

"Hey Lils"

"Oh hey Matt..." Mom wrinkled her nose at the smell coming off Dad.

"Look Lils, I need to talk to you" Dad slurred slightly.

"Sure, what's up?"

Dad sat down beside her "I just want to say how sorry I am. For everything, ever. For not taking you to the dance, for that time I was two hours late for our date, for getting you pregnant, for never being there for you, for everything"

"umm... ok thanks Matt..." Mom started awkwardly, "but I think I'm over not being taken to the dance, and you're making an effort now with Jemma, and that's all I can ask for"

"No but Lilly, I am sooo sorry. Lilly I love you. I always have, I always will" Dad said. taking her hands.

Mom quickly retrieved her hands "Ok, and someone has had a bit too much to drink"

"But Lilly I love you so much. We were meant to be together, from the very beginning. Let's run away together, right now. Let's just take Jem and run. No one else, just us" Dad begged, his voice cracking slightly.

"Ok, Oliver will be back in a second Matt. I think you should leave" Mom said, looking around, hoping Uncle Oliver would appear at that moment. No such luck.

"Forget Oken," Dad waved his hand, as if Uncle Oliver was a fly to be swatted away, "You have me now. Leave him and take me back. I'll be yours forever and ever"

"Aren't you here with Kimmy? Where is she? I thought she was the sole object of your desire"

"Screw that bitch" Dad spat, and then fixing his gaze on Mom "You are the only one I want"

"I think you should leave Matt" Mom said, looking around for someone to take him.

"But Lils I really really love you, we're meant to be together and you know it. Oliver doesn't deserve you, come one lets go, lets get out of here" Dad stood up, dragging Mom with him.

Mom took a step back away from Dad, "Matt, wait stop. I love Oliver, and I got over you a long long time ago. We're over, we were a long long time ago. I'm not leaving Oliver and running away with you. I'm sorry whatever was between us can never happen again"

"But Lils..." Dad pleaded.

Mom shook her head "Just go Matt"

Dad pushed his chair back and stood up "You know what, screw you too Truscott"

Mom just shook her head in disbelief as she watched Dad leave and walk over to where Kimmy was giggling and flirting with the waiter. He grabbed Kimmy and when the waiter protested, Dad pushed him away and pulled Kimmy with him out of the room.

Later that evening Kimmy took Dad to a club, where she knew there would be paparazzi, and the next morning all the tabloids were covered with pictures of Dad and Kimmy and their joyous and romantic reunion.

Mom didn't tell me at the time about this incident, feeling it was between her and a very drunk Dad. She didn't want me pushing Dad away for something that was between her and Dad.

So for me the evening passed in a haze of love, warmth and David, leaving me oblivious to what was going on around me.


	12. Denial

**A/N: **Dude! It has not been over a year since I updated this, really? Sorry! I really do love this story, but life is life. Also don't you hate it when your watching HM and slowly but surely they destroy everything your story is based on? So basically this story is completely impossible but my defense is that it is true as of "The Test of My Love" :) Please review if you're still out there, that would be lovely.

Also I made up a YouTube trailer for this absolutly yonks ago (as in 2009), and had meant to mention it in the last chapter, but forgot to, so yeah... the link will be on my profile, or just search "My Mother's Story" and Cafirine should find it me thinks.

* * *

**Denial**

Mom and Dad's relationship was more strained than ever since the wedding, which I noticed, but whenever I asked Mom about it, she flustered, and then changed the subject. I knew something was up, but I just couldn't figure out what it was.

In the mean time Lost Republic released another album, and began another tour, and so I only really got to see Dad every month or so anyway, with phone calls at lest twice a week. In hindsight, if they had not gone on tour, what had happened a the wedding might have come to light sooner, and then maybe things would have turned out differently, and I might not even be writing this. But, you can't change the past, you can only talk about it, and make sure those concerned get their story told truthfully.

About two months into the Lost Republic tour it was David's 17th birthday, and so we went out for a meal. The night we were going out also happened to be the night Dad was playing in Malibu. I had hoped to go see the concert, since I had not seen him in a few weeks, but David had insisted that we went out that night. His excuse that time had been that he was going out with his family the night before, and the night after he was going to have to study for a French test the next day.

I had begun to notice that recently David had started to become very pushy and that everything had to be done his way. We had to watch the movie he wanted, because he had gone to the premier of the other one, we had to listen to his music, because he found my taste in music "appalling", and when he had a day off I had to drop everything and be where he was, because his study schedule was stricter than mine, so it was easier to organise around him rather than me. Initially, I had gone along with this. I really did not mind about the films or music, but when I got grounded for getting a D in a test I should have got a B in at least, I started to push back. Suddenly, it was like out relationship hit a brick wall. David almost always refused to be flexible, and I refused to be pushed around, I knew what that resulted in. Sure, David was sweet and charming, when he got his own way, but, resist against him, and he turned into the spoiled brat that Mom and feared he would be. Of course, I didn't tell anyone this, especially Becky, who I knew would tell Mom, and so I kept going, in the hope that the problem would resolve itself, and David would grow up.

So we went out to celebrate to a Chinese restaurant. I did not mind it was his choice, it was his birthday after all, but I guess I was still a bit bitter about not being able to see Dad, although I did try to hide it, I didn't want to spoil his birthday meal with another fight.

We had paid and were walking to his car, when David turned to me "Hey, Jem, look, I'm sorry I made you miss seeing your dad tonight, but how about we go along and go meet him backstage?"

"I don't know..." I hesitated "There'll probably be loads of paparazzi floating around, and I really don't want to have to make up lies tonight." The idea of revealing who I was to the world was not one I wanted to think about that night.

"Good God Jemma! C'mon! You've been complaining for the past 2 weeks about how you weren't going to be able to see your Dad tonight, and now I give the chance to go, and you're changing your mind?"

"Jeez, calm down David" I hissed as I grabbed his arm and dragged him towards the car, avoiding the curious looks from the other people in the car park.

"I just thought I would be nice to you, even though it is my birthday", David pouted at me.

I ran my hand through my hair, avoiding the temptation to grab it and scream "Fine. We'll go, but if there are loads of paparazzi around, I'm not taking any chances."

"Great!" David kissed me on the forehead and opened the car door for me.

When we got to the venue it was just as I had suspected it would be; paparazzi, and even worse, fan-girls, were everywhere, hoping for a picture. As soon as we turned down onto the street I knew there was no way I was going in there that night. David turned down into an underground hotel down the street, and parked the car.

"Right, let's go then" he said, unbuckling his seatbelt.

"Seriously?" I looked at him incredulously, had he not just seen the scene that I had?

"What?"

"There is no way I'm going in there. Not with all those fans and paps"

David rolled his eyes "So if anyone asks we'll just say that your my girlfriend. It's not that complicated Jemma, not everything in life has to be filled with lies and cover-ups."

"I know" I sighed "But what happens when someone sees me hugging Dad, or even overhears me calling him Dad and not Matt? I really like how things have been going, I do not want to suddenly become the centre of a news story."

"Look, I understand Jemma, but you won't be able to hide it forever."

"I know," I said quietly, "But not tonight"

"Whatever, I'm going in," David opened his door and got out "Are you coming with me, or are you coming with me or not?"

I looked up at him and shook my head, "Not tonight David, sorry"

"Fine, I won't be long, I guess", he said as he closed his door.

I sighed as I watched him walk across the car park and up the stairs to the exit. I knew David really did not fully understand mine and Dad's need to keep our relationship a secret. Sure, he got how intrusive the press could be sometimes, and the desire to not want that. However, keeping it a complete secret? David grew up with it, and sure I had certain exposure to it as Jemima, but the thought of it 24/7 terrified me. I liked how things were going with me and Dad and I did not want to change that.

Fifteen minutes passed, and I was starting to fidgety. There are only so many games of Tetris a girl can play. I cancelled the game I was playing and started to call David, to ask how much longer he was going to be. The beeps from my phone reminded me I was in an underground car park where there was no reception.

"Typical" I grumbled as I gathered up my purse and cardigan and got out of the car. I made my way out of the car park and tried again.

"Hey Jemma, what's up?" David answered.

"Oh you know, just wondering how much longer you were going to be, because y'know, we have this little thing called school tomorrow" I replied.

I could almost hear the eye roll from the other end of the line, "God Jemma. Look, I'm probably going to be here for another while. You're welcome to come join me, or you can wait"

"No it's fine" I said curtly "I'll call my Mom and get her to pick me up"

"As long as you're sure, love. I'll see you tomorrow then" David replied, and hung up.

"Sure, see you tomorrow then, dear" I spat at the blank screen. Smen.

I rang Mom, stabbing at the keys in my frustration at David. When Mom answered, I explained what had happened to her. After offering to teepee David's house, Mom said that Uncle Oliver would down to pick me up in about twenty minutes. I though it was weird she wasn't picking me up herself, but I figured she didn't want to risk seeing Dad at all.

I found a bench across the the road from the venue, and people watched as they arrived and left the concert. The concert ended after about fifteen minutes and after thirty-five minutes Uncle Oliver still hadn't arrived, and so I went to call him to see where he was. However, when I tried to call him I found I had run out of battery. Things were really not going my way that night. I decided to give him another ten minutes, but after that had passed I knew I had no other choice. I had to go in and borrow a phone.

The concert had ended half an hour ago, so most of the crowds had dispersed, the only problem was going to be finding an entrance that was covered by paparazzi or fan-girls. After scouting around the building for a couple of minutes I found a service entrance and made my way through. Fortunately Hannah had preformed there a good few times and so I knew where I was going, and so I headed straight for the dressing rooms, hoping to bump into a family member to borrow a cell from. Apparently I was walking with enough purpose to make look like I belonged there, because I made it to their dressing rooms without being stopped. I knocked on a door marked "Lost Republic: Matt Marshall" and heard Kimmy shout out for who it was. I grimaced, just what I needed to make my evening better, Kimmy.

"Um, it's me Jemma" I replied.

I heard movement in the room, and Dad opened the door, smiling broadly at me, "Jem! What are you doing here?" he said, as he let me in and then pulled me into a hug.

"Hey Dad, I missed you" I hugged him back.

"Jemsy!" Kimmy squealed, as she embraced me with her toned arms. I hugged her back reluctantly.

"I thought I wasn't going to get to see you tonight. Then when I saw David he said you had gone home", said Dad.

"Yeah, Uncle Oliver was supposed to pick my up about half an hour ago, but he hasn't turned up yet, and then my cell ran out of battery, so I had to come in to borrow one" I explained.

"Sure, use mine," Dad handed over his phone.

I put in Uncle Oliver's number first, but there was no reply. This struck me as odd, but as I was about to call Mom, there was a knock on the door, as a group of fans were on a tour. I excused myself and went back out the way I had came, through the service entrance. I tapped in Mom's number and called her.

It rang for a while before she picked up, and when she did I could hear there was something wrong from her voice.

"Mom? What's wrong? Uncle Oliver hasn't picked me up, is everything OK?" I asked, worried.

Mom let out a sob as she gasped out, "Jem... Ollie... there was a kid... and then... hospital"

My world started to dissolve around me, as I leant against a wall. There were no tears, just shock. This was a mistake. Uncle Oliver was on his way to pick me up, he was just delayed.

"Mom what are you saying? Uncle Ollie is on his way right?" I begged her to tell me.

"He's gone Jemma," she choked out, "he's gone."

My legs gave way as I slid down the wall and the tears started to roll down my cheeks.

I heard Aunt Miley on the other end take the cell from Mom. She sounded tired, even old from the shock and grief.

"Jemma, honey, where are you?" she asked.

"Um... I'm at, I'm at the concert" I told her as the tears continued to fall uncontrollably.

"OK, you need to go find your dad, and get him to bring you here to the hospital. We're at St. Mary's General."

"Aunt Miley? Is he really gone?"

Aunt Miley let out a sob, "Yes Jem, Oliver is really gone."

I hung up and sat there for a while, hugging my knees to my chest, crying my heart out. I blamed David for making me come to the concert. I blamed myself for letting David bring me. I blamed Dad for putting me in the situation that I couldn't go in and Mom felt like she couldn't come and pick me up herself. I blamed myself for ringing Mom instead of taking a taxi.

After a while I heard a door open, Dad came out.

"There you are! I was wondering where you had..." Dad stopped when he saw me "Jem what's wrong? Are you OK? What happened?" He knelt down beside me and put his arms around me.

I collapsed into him and sobbed into his chest, "He's gone Dad, he's gone"

"Who's gone? What happened Jemma?"

"Uncle Oliver, he was in an accident..." before I could finish there was a flash. And then another one.

I looked up confused, and through my tears I saw man with a camera.

"Who's this Matt? What's wrong? Did you break her heart?" he shouted at us, thrusting a Dictaphone towards in our faces.

Dad hurriedly got up, and smiled charmingly at the man, "Who this? Oh she's no one. Just a girl who got dumped by her boyfriend tonight" he said, as he walked towards the man to discuss the photos he had just taken.

I stared after him in shock. Yes, we wanted to keep this relationship secret, but to the extent that he couldn't stay here with me after the crushing news I had just received? For once could he not think about the world, but instead about me? Anger boiled inside of me as I stood up and Dad returned. He made to hug me, but I twisted away from him.

"Jemma? What's wrong?" he asked, confused.

"Uncle Oliver is dead!" I screamed at him, as tears still burned my eyes, "He's dead! And all you can think about is the paparazzi! For once could you have not thought about what was going to be on the front page tomorrow?"

"Jemma, I'm sorry. I thought... I didn't think..."

"That's right, you never think" I spat at him, "You didn't think you were ready sixteen years ago, and maybe your still not. Mom was right. You're still a self-absorbed twenty-one year old."

"Jem, I'm sorry" he pleaded weakly.

"Screw it Dad! Screw you! Maybe life would have been easier if I had never found out about you!" I knew I had hit a nerve there, as he gave me a wounded and pained look.

"Let me drive you to the hospital Jemma", he offered.

"No thanks," I gathered up my things and walked towards the main road, "I'll get a taxi instead.

Luckily an empty taxi was passing, so I hailed it and got in, leaving Dad behind in the alley.

* * *

Just a last note to say, I'm sorry I really did not want to do that. Lilly and Oliver are my favouritest couple, but this was conceived in the pre-Loliver days, and even then I wrote in his death with a heavy heart, because Oliver is awesome. Really if I was bothered I could re-write the whole story and replace Matt with Oliver. But I have put myself on this path when I wrote my abstract, so there it is :(

Also "smen" is a word my Mum and I thought up, replace the s with any word, for example smen could be short for silly men, or any other form you wish :)


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